Thursday, July 02, 2009

better than last year!

This morning we went to watch the hot air balloon festival in Provo. Last year, when Jessie was in town, we all got up early and drove down there, only to discover that we had missed the whole thing! @$%! I left myself a note on my blog to leave at 6:00 a.m. this year (1/2 hour earlier than last year), so that is what we did. Imagine my surprise when the balloon inflation hadn't even begun! It was too weird.

We made the obligatory stop at McDonald's on our way to the field. We get plain biscuits, hash browns, and o.j. (Lucas opted for milk). He also shocked me by announcing that he prefers the hash browns to the biscuits. What the? I thought my little starchatarian favored bread above all else!

I found it interesting that the balloons look so massive when they are spread out on the ground and filling up, and then when they are fully inflated, they suddenly don't look nearly as big anymore.

Jill was violently opposed to my picture-taking.

Eva was cold, so Max obliged her with some snuggling inside his cozy blanket. For the record, it was not cold at all, even though most years it is chilly before the sun comes up.

We were positioned right next to the Smokey the Bear balloon and got a close-up view of its inflation. It's really quite a process! It takes a whole lot of people to lift and shift the balloon around, and it looks even harder to deflate it and pack it up.

I'm not sure what Whitney was saying here, but I love that I caught her in this dramatic moment.

While it was fun to watch the balloons inflate, it was a bit of a disappointment when they announced that, due to rain in the forecast, they would not actually be taking off. That's my favorite part. And if I were a balloonist, I don't think I'd be too keen on getting it all set up and filled, only to deflate it and pack it all away...

Eva was so tired from the 5:45 wake-up that she spent most of the time crying. She didn't like the smell of the gas (I couldn't smell anything), she didn't like the sound of the balloons filling, she was cold, she wanted to go home and go back to bed. Such a delight. (She did, however, take a 3-hour nap today, woohoo!!)

Jill & Randy's relaxed feet. I'm not sure how they were able to relax with all the crying, but I have to assume it's because it was not their child doing all the crying. Still.

Landon & Lucas. These guys have been great friends for as long as I can remember. I love that.

(Incidentally, I felt like I needed to make a disclaimer on Lucas's long, out of control hair. Jill said the same thing about Landon. I didn't even notice Landon's hair because I was so focused on how much I want Lucas to get a haircut! Too funny.)

Who knew there was a balloonist prayer??

Early morning sp: complete with bedhead, yesterday's makeup, and cold sores. And a completely uncooperative Eva. But it had to be done!

to sum up: It wasn't our best-ever balloon launch experience, but it was still fun, and I'm glad we kept with our tradition. Check!

9 comments:

Rebekah said...

jill looks like she's winding up to backhand someone! ha!

Natasha said...

Starchatarian, Ha! I love that!

Okay, what Jill is doing would be ME. I hate being in pics. I'm surprised she didn't want to partake in the picture fun though.

This definitely is a great family tradition, crying or not!

Anonymous said...

Man I just LOVE that picture of Jill...I don't know exactly why. It is fantastic!

I almost went this morning, but then heard about the no launch because of rain and opted to stay in my bed. I am thinking we will officially start the tradition next year because Linc will be done with school and I won't be wrestling two kids solo at 5:45 in the morning out the door.

The SP at the end- I simply adore you Michelle :)

patsy said...

This SPT- really is awesome & totally sums up the post. so cute!

I love this tradition!
last year I thought, we should do this... now I am thinking again- hey we should do this!

I am so impressed with your early morning rising & no one complaining but Eva. :) someday when she is a teen you will have so many funny (then they will be funny) stories to bribe her with ;)

I love lucas hair- it says summer to me!

Jill said...

That picture of me is truly heinous, did it need to be blogged? I look seriously violent, but really it was the angle you were shooting from (not chin friendly at all) that horrified me so.

I love this tradition of ours and thought it was a fun morning even if the balloons didn't launch. I like watching the balloons come to life as they fill up, so it was fine with me.

Landon got a haircut last night so he's really cute again!

emily said...

I'm shocked that Lucas would eat hash browns at all, especially when a biscuit was nearby.

I think that there is something to be said for keeping up traditions even when they aren't so successful some years. It's fun to look back and be able to remember each year by what happened, even if it included crying children and balloons that wouldn't launch.

I'm glad that it was overall a success this year!

Susan said...

The whole thing sounds interesting and I'm all for the tradition part.

I can totally realate to Eva being cold! You just don't know what it's like...we went to see fireworks tonight and around 5:30pm I was already cold and the sun hadn't gone down yet. I really lamented not taking my scarf, pashmina AND jacket! Luckily, Max was prepared with a blanket.Not so for me.

I must say that I was imressed that you go everyone to go that time of day. I'll be curious to see if Eva agrees to go next year!

Unknown said...

i love the word starhatarian. it describes ME to a tee!!

so fun to see the self-portrait after seeing jills-eye-view of the self-portrait.

i didn't know that there was a balloonists prayer, but i do know there is some sort of champagne ritual that involves creating a "balloon" from the wire and cork from the bottle...

Bond Girl 007 said...

that is funny what Jill said about blogging her picture, THERE ARE INFINITE PICTURES i've told her not to blog, and she does, any how...so this is ammusing to me!@ hehehhehehehehehehhheheh! I want to go next year!@ I should have gone this year ,M i THINK i WOULD HAVE HAD a more wonderful time over there.....is that at byu? cute last picture, i htink lucas is sooo ctue@!

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